Counter



C. DOM

COUNTER Sept. 19, 1961 Filed June 4,4 1958 United States Patent O 3,000,559 COUNTER Charles Dom, 10 Rue de la Muse, Geneva, Switzerland Filed June 4, 1958, Ser. No. 739,873 Claims priority, application Switzerland `Iuly 11, 1957 3 Claims. (Cl. 235--113) The present invention has for its object a counter in the shape of a wrist-watch case, the upper face of which comprises apertures for the appearing of figures carried by rotary counting members located within said case and driven step by step by a counting control member, devices being further provided for transfering the tens and for resetting to zero.

This counter differs from the known counters in that said counting control member constitutes simultaneously a resetting to zero control member for said rotary counting members, said only one control member being constituted by a push-button adapted to occupy two angular working positions.

The accompanying drawing illustrates, by Way of eX- ample, an embodiment of the invention.

IFIG. 1 is a plan view of the counter.

FIG. 2 is a partially sectional plan View of the mechanism, the upper wall of the counter being removed.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line I--I of FIG. 5.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on the line II-II of FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view on the line III-III of FIG. 3, the control member being in the counting position.

FIG. 6 is a View similar to FIG. 5, the control member being however in the position for resetting the tens to zero.

FIG. 1 shows the casing 1 containing the counter mechanism and having the appearance of a rectangular wristwatch case provided on either side with a small bar 2 for the attachment of the two parts 3 and 4 ofthe wriststrap. The upper wall 5 of the casing 1 comprises two apertures 6 letting appear iigures carried by rotary counting members 7 and 8 illustrated in the shape of d-iscs and provided respectively for the counting of the units and of the tens. Each of the discs 7, 8 is adapted to revolve freely on a xed axle 9, 9 and carries the figures from 0 to 9 regularly distributed along its periphery.

The transferring device for the tens comprises a driving member 10, secured along with the disc 7 and constituted by a disc provided with a transfering linger 11. Said finger meshes at each revolution with one of the ten teeth of a gear 12 mounted on the axle 9 and secured along with the counting member 8 for the tens.

Each axle 9, 9a carries further a ratchet Wheel 13, 14 one of which is secured along with the discs 7 and 10 While the other one is secured along with the disc 8 and the gear 12. Said ratchet wheels are provided With ten teeth of same pitch and co-operate respectively with a retaining pawl15, 16, pivoted on an axle 17 and submitted to the action of a spring 18 tending to maintain it in engagement with the corresponding ratchet wheel.

The side wall 19 of the casing (FIG. 2), which will be hereafter designated as front wall in consideration of the normal position of the counter attached to the users wrist, is traversed by a counting control member constituted by a push-button 20 sliding along a guide 21 constituted by a rod one of the ends of which is engaged within a bore of the push-button, whilst its other end is secured in a recess provided in the rear side Wall 22 of the casing. A return spring 23 resting on said wall 22 acts on said push-button in order to maintain it in the rest position shown in FIG. 2.

A prismatic shaped member 24, serving together as an abutment and as a guiding member, is fastened on the Mice push-button inside the casing 1. The bottom 25 of said prism constitutes an abutment engaging the internal face of the wall 19 in order to define the rest position of the push-button. Said bottom assumes the shape of a lozenge the ends 26 and 27 of which are rounded (FIGS. 5, 6). The side faces 28, 29 and 30, 31 of said member 24 are parallel two by two and are used alternately as abutments for defining two angular working positions of the push-button by abutting against the internal lfaces 5 and V32 of the casing 1. During the sliding of the push-button, the faces 28, 29 respectively 30, 31 serve as a guiding member for the push-button according to its angular position.

A detent device, illustrated as a spring blade 33 fastened to the lower wall 32 of the casin-g by a screw 34, actson one of the rounded ends 27 of the guiding Imember 24 4in order to maintain said member in one of its angular working positions.

The guiding member 24 carries two elastic actuating lingers 35, 36 adapted to co-operate respectively with the teeth of the ratchet wheels 13, 14 according to the angular working position taken by the push-button.

The operation of the above described counter is as follows:

After ascertaining that the push-button is placed `in the counting position, shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, one exerts a thrust on the push-button. The actuating nger 35, driven by the push-button, acts on one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 13 and drives through y1() of a revolution said wheel, as well as the disc 10 and the units counting member 7. The retaining pawl 15 co-operates then with the following tooth of the ratchet wheel 13.

This rotation of the units counting member 7 lets appear, in the right-hand aperture 6, a figure one unit superior to the precedent ligure.v When, after eight succes- 'sive thrusts on'the push-button, the figure 9 appears in said aperture 6, the transfering finger 11 is placed in the angular position shown in FIG. 3. If the user now causes the units counting member 7 to progress by one further unit by actuation of the push-button 20, the zero figure appears in the right-hand aperture and the transferring linger 11, co-operating -with a tooth of the wheel 12, actuates the member 8 counting the tens through one unit. Consequently the figure l appears in the left-hand aperture 6.

The setting to zero of the units is made by actuating the push-button as often as necessary to bring the iigure zero in the right-hand aperture 6.

The setting to zero of the tens is made by lshifting rstly the push-button angularly in the direction opposed to the arrow f (FIG. 4), so as to place it in its second angular working position, then, by actuating said pushbutton as often as necessary to bring the ligure zero in the left-hand aperture 6. The user then returns the push-button into its rst angular working position again by shifting it angularly in the direction of the arrow f, so that the counter is ready again for carrying out a further counting.

As shown in the drawing, the apertures 6 are preferably located on an axis perpendicular to the push-button axis and placed on either side of the plane of symmetry passing through said axis.

As above mentioned, the counting control member constitutes simultaneously the resetting to zero control member of the counter, so that the counter casing comprises, as a wrist-watch case, only one control member projecting from one of its side faces.` 'Ihis very simple mechanism can be built very strongly in spite of the little place available inside a Wrist-Watch case, on account of the very little number of parts which comprise the mechanism of the counter.

An embodiment has been hereinbefore described by Vhaving a bottom surface and defining the configuration of a wrist Watch, an upper wall `closing the upper face of said case, Iapertures disposedin said upper Swall, first and second rotary counting members mounted inside said case opposite said apertures, a counter control member accessible from the outside of said case for actuating step by step said rotary counting members, guide means disposed inside said case, said counter control member slidably and angularly mounted on said guide means, a return spring mounted on said guide means tending to lurge said counter control member axially to a normal rest position, a tens transfer device mounted on said first rotary counting member for effecting a step-by-step actuation of said second rotary counting member at the end of each revolution of said first rotary counting member, a guide member having a prismatic configuration mounted on said counter control member, said guide member havling two pairs of guiding surfaces for cooperating alternatively with said bottom surface and said upper wall of said case so as to define two different angular operating positions of said counter control member, detent means acting on said guide member to maintain it in one or the other of its two operating positions, and iirst and second actuating members carried by saidguide member for actuating upon axial displacement of said counter control member said first and second rotary counting members respectively in accordance with the vangular position of said counting control member.

2. A counting instrument comprising a case having a bottom surface and defining the shape of a wrist watch, an upper wall closing the upper surface of said case, apertures in said upper wall, first and second rotary counting members mounted inside said case opposite said apertures, a counter control member accessible from the outside of said case and actuating step by step said iirst and second rotary counting members, guide means mounted in said case for guiding-axial and angular movement of said counter control member, a tens transfer device mounted on said first rotary counting member for effecting a step-by-s'tep actuation of said second rotary counting member at the end of each revolution of said nrst rotary counting member, a guide member having parallel guiding surfaces mounted on said counter control member, said guidemember augularly movablev by said Ycounter control member between two operating positions definedV by Vsaid parallel guiding surfaces of said guide member abutting against said bottom surface and said upper wall of said case, detent means mounted in said case to maintain said guide member in either one of its operating positions, and actuating members mounted on said guide member to actuate one of said"rotary counting members by axial displacement of said counter control member when said guide member'is in one operating position and 'to actuate the other rotary countingl member Vby axial displacement of said counter control member when said guide memberis in the other operating position.

3. A counting instrument according to claim 2 in which a return spring is mounted on said guide means for biasing said counter control member axially to a rest position defined by said guide member abutting against said case.

' References Cited'in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Beskow ocr. 16, y1923 1,553,192 Shaya et al. Sept. 8, 1925 1,686,369 Cook Oct. 2, 1928 2,797,871 Murphy et al. .July 2, 1957 2,838,239 Dom June 10, 1958 2,845,226 Cummings et al. July 29, 1958 s FOREIGN PATENTS 194,025 France Jan. 10, 1888 

